THE SAMOAN REVOLUTION.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 3836, 19 April 1899, Page 2

THE SAMOAN REVOLUTION.

Description of the Vaxiblb FIGHT.

Corporal Foxworthy, wounded in the above fight and brought down to Auckland Hospital by the Mail steamer, has given the follow* ing account to the N.Z. Herald : — 'At about half -past twelve the .Royalist got uuderweigh, and went round the island by the British and American Consulates, and at the same time a force of British and American bl'iejaokets, numbering from 80 to 100 men all told, left the encampment, and advanced through the bush towards the Vailele plantation. Just previous to this, at a given signal from Lieutenant Freeman, who was in charge of the who' o detachment, the guns of the Royalist, which had been busily employed in shelling the buildings at the back of the town, ceased firing. We were armed with the Lee-Metford magazinerifle, containing 10 rounds of ammunition, and advanced in i skirmishing order towards the German plantation. When we had gone some two or three miles, a halt was called, and wa retired, a short distance, as we saw some of the rebels ahead. We fired 12 volleys at them and they disappeared. We went on about 12 miles from thence, and were going through a plantation of young cocoanut trees, with dense bush about 100 yards on the left, the plantation being thin enough to see a good distance ahead. We suddenly caught sight of a number of rebels on the fringe of the bush on the left, and opened fire on them, but did not find out whether many were wounded. They seemed to be in groups of about 50 or so behind each cover, and the only show we had of firing at them was when they moved from . cover to cover. Our rifles must have done some damage, as a bullet from a Lee-Metford will go through half-a-dozen men, and our shots in some cases went right through the young cocoanut trees and wounded the men who were standing behind them. A number of natives were perched in the tops of the trees, and were taking shots at us, but we brought a good many of them down. 'At last they began to close in, and we saw that we were almost entirely surrounded, horseshoe fashion, the only outlet being to the beach. There must have been a large number of natives killed, as when we retreated through the coacoanut grove there were several tracks of blood. While we were engaging them, the American Colt gun got out of order, and the officers, forming around the gun to try and get it clear, made a distinct target for the Samoan bullets ; and that is how Lieutenant Lansdale got wounded. Eventually, seeing that they could do nothing with the gun, the Americans put it completely out of gear, and took awaypiart of it. It was afterwards captured by the rebels, who handed it over to the Falfce, and it was eventually sent back to the Philadelphia. r 'The last man to retire was Hunt. Lieutenant Lansdale was wounded in the knee while standing at the gun, but he continued to urge on his men, though he was unable to stand. Ensign Monaghan Was also wounded, but Hunt stuck to them, and defended; them to/ the last. As he was standing with his rifle to his shoulder, a shot struck the rifle and damaged it, so that he could not open or olose the magazine. About 20 men rose up around him,. and disarmed him, taking off bis belt and pouohes. A scuflle followed, in which a native attacked Hunt with ahooked knife. A blow from a rifle sent Hunt to the ground, but he was not stunned. One ot the natives then cut off his right ear, evidently intending to take both, but at that moment the signal was given to the Royalist that all were clear of the bush, and she reopened fire, sending a shell over thefr* heads, which burst [ about 20yds away. The natives raa off, and Hunt was able to make his way to the beach. Lieutenant Freeman was the commanding officer of the whole detachment. He was shot through the body while in the act of giving a wounded man a drink, a did not see him fall, as I was in the rear guard when we retreated.

* We were proceeding in skirmish* ing. order, and I was in charge of the advance (guard of 10 marines from the Royaliat. I was wounded early in the fight. Being in advance at fires, we formed the rote guard on retreating, but as sown as we attacked we joined ourselves 10 the main body. I was shot through the llett t leg; but kept od as long as I was able to stand. One of my men, seeing that I way wounded, wentin search of adoctor, add returned with Dr. Lang, au American surgeon, who looked after me and attended to my wounds H showing great bravery in doing so, as the shots were falling pretty thickly. I was put on a stretcher and carried out in the rear, so that I could see the men retiring, and saw all the fighting going on. The rebels at this time were firing very recklessly, or they would havHP" killed very man amongst us. We retired in skirmishing order, and got out on to the beach. I was taken to the American Consulate, and attended to by Dr Beattie, and was afterwards removed in a trap to the Supreme Court, which was fitted up as a hospital. AH this happened on Saturday, Nothing occurred on Sunday, but on Monday saornr ing the .Royalist and Porp. iie git up anchor, and bombarded the island fr-m different positions, firing into the bush behind the town. On the morning the mailboat left the Porpoise was firing at points in the bush, where they judged by the smoke that the natives were encamped. It is hard to tell how many of the rebels were killed, as they took most of their

killed and Wounded away, leaving only three behind . I should taint that there were about 40 killed bat the only way to get numbers would be by going to the priest* a^ missionaries, who would hare . good idea of the damage done.'